What Howls at Night
by Dimensional Damage
Summary: g?1393933125 Sorry, the image section didn't work for this picture. When the Cutie Mark Crusaders go on another one of their misadventures, they accidentally end up in the Everfree Forest, and have an unlikely encounter with one of it's most dangerous beasts. But will a beast itself form from this encounter later on?
1. Twilight Time Gone Terribly Wrong

I'm trying to go for a My Little Pony story based off of Alvin and the Chipmunk meet the Wolfman, but I'm also trying to not make it a total crossover. So, enjoy! B-)

"Ooh, I just know that today's Twilight Time is gonna be the best ever, crusaders!" Said a little yellow Earth filly with a red mane, and a pink bow a little bit too big for her, to her other two friends beside her.

"Maybe because we finally figured out those things Twilight helped us learn to do and now we're going to be helping her to teach Sweetie Belle how to teleport?" Questioned a small orange Pegasus filly with a purple mane, trotting beside her friend, with said friend beside her.

"Well, all I know is that you're both very right. It's gonna be so awesome, once I learn to teleport. I'll be able to transport us almost anywhere, faster than we uusually go!" Exclaimed an excited white Unicorn bobbing up and down while also trotting alongside her two best friends, called by the trio, The Cutie Mark Crusaders.

The three fillies, all belonging from each of the three types of ponies, Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn, were trotting down to the Library from Sweet Apple Acres. The friends were just chatting away with each other about regular news, or just the next most awesome thing that might or has happened in their young, filly lives. Applebloom, the Earth pony, Scootaloo, the Pegasus pony, and Sweetie Belle, the Unicorn. Twilight Time was the most fun time any of them ever have, besides a few fails in their learning, who knew learning could be fun? Twilight, the new Alicorn princess of Friendship, just made learning to do stuff yourself so fun, and if anypony else had the librarian princess as your very own teacher, who's friends with your sisters and adoptive sister, then they would say the same thing. As they were reaching the Library, the chatting started to die down, and the fillies were in a peaceful silence.

Until that silence was decided to be broken by a filly who gets bored easily with complete and utter silence.

"Hey, girls?" Scootaloo asked her friends to her left, in which she recieved nods that showed they were listening to her.

"Last one to the library is a rotten manticore!" Then, as suddenly as she said it, she dashed off towards the Library.

" 'Ey no fair, Scoots!" Applebloom shouted, before she sprinted after the grounded Pegasus.

It took Sweetie Belle a few moments to register what exactly just happened. When her mind finally figured out out, she was off. She scrambled after the two disappearing racing specks that were her friends, who left her in the dust.

By the time Sweetie Belle finally reached the Library, exhausted was not a word anypony could use to describe how spent she was. Sweetie was just about ready to collapse and rest in sleep, until she got closer to the Library, however. Applebloom and Scootaloo were in, yet another argument. Probably over who won, Definitely not me.

"Noo! I won because I'm more awesomer than you!" Bingo!

" 'Dat don' even any sense, plus that's not a real word. And ah because you're a big chicken! Cluck! Cluck!"

"Now who's not making sense!" Knowing this type of fight, they're probably going to drag me into this, even though I was barely here for the most part.

"SWEETIE BELLE!?" Right again.

"Um, well. Can't we just, you know, call it a-a tie?" Sweetie smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head with a front hoof. She watched as her friends stared each other down with their own glares. Then, Applebloom let out a chuckle and Scootaloo cracked a smile. Before she knew it, both her friends were rolling and laughing away on the ground beneath their small hooves. Sweetie just sighed and sat down on her haunches, but not before letting loose a grin of her own at her friends' silly way at settling a dispute.

As the minutes went by, Sweetie Belle remembered why they came to the Library in the first place and decided if she should get up and knock on the Library's door, before anypony came and saw three hysterical fillies laughing and rolling around on the ground. Right when she got off of her haunches, the Library's door swung open and Twilight, the alicorn librarian princess exited her library/home/workplace. Her bulging saddlebags, that had her Cutie Mark on both of its sides, showed that she was going somewhere to drop off...something.

Twilight stopped in her tracks as soon as she caught sight of two gaggling fillies, and one weary also. "Well, well, well. What have we got here? Two giggly fillies, and, Sweetie Belle you look very tired, I've been there before, wasn't pretty, trust me." The two said giggling fillies stopped their rolling around and shook their heads, "yes", in order to answer their part-time teacher's rhetorical question. While Sweetie Belle just shrugged, considering how weared out she was, Twilight was right, being tired isn't pretty. "Well, I just heading over to Fluttershy's cottage to drop off some books she checked out, but she never found the time to pick them up, so I'm just going to save her the hassle. And-oh! Today is Twilight Time, isn't it? I'm really sorry, girls. I forgot. I knew I was leaving something off of my schedule for today!"

Twilight saw the disappointed faces of her part-time students, and suddenly felt very guilty. "And I was also going to ask her to teach me how to make Dragon Tea. Spike's been having some stomach problems lately, so I'm going to make him the only thing that would soothe a dragon tummy ache. You girls can tag along if you want, think of it as Twilight Time Field Trip, if you do come."

"Aww, poor fella. We'll be glad ta come, Miss Twilight."

"Yeah, yeah. I did want to help Sweetie Belle teleport, but alright. I got nothing else, besides that, better to do anyway."

"But-I-wait-what about? *Sigh* Fine, I'll come to, I'm bummed out, though." Sweetie Belle harrumphed and frowned slightly.

Twilight looked at her sympathetically and thought again for a moment. She then leaned in and whispered in Sweetie Belle's ear, "It's okay, Sweetie Belle. On the walk, I'll tell a few pointers for how to get ready to teleport, that sound okay with you?"

Now Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment, and whispered back into her alicorn teacher's ear, "Deal."

The alicorn backed up and smiled. "Okay! Let's get going Cutie Mark Crusaders, don't want to get home late, now do we?"

"Weell. Applejack did tell me ta be home before dark. We're gonna 'ave a campfire supper and the full moon's gonna be out, so I heard it's gonna be real beautiful like." Applebloom explained.

"BORRRRINNG!" Scootaloo groaned to Applebloom while pulling her lower eyelids down dramatically.

"Oh, really? Did I forget to mention that mah sister invited Rainbow Dash over, since she loves eating outside?" Applebloom feigned shock by putting a front hoof over her mouth, while her mouth was formed in a cocky grin. She looked at the now speechless Scootaloo and grinned even wider than before, she was afraid that her face was either going to split in half or stay frozen like that, either way, it would be worth it.

"R-really?"

"Eyup!" Applebloom now had a goofy smile upon her face.

"Hey, Appleboom, guess what."

"Whut?"

"Race ya ta Fluttershy's house!" Scootaloo was about to take off, but a pull in her tail kept her from moving any further, less she wanted more hair pulled from her tail. "Yeee-ouch! Hey! What was that for?!"

"Ta stop ya from runnin' of again, ya big cheater. Ya got count down from three, after ya say three, ya say, "GO!". Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, got it. Now get ready." Applebloom looked sceptical, but obliged anyway and set herself up to go.

" 'Ey, Sweetie Belle. You gonna race too?" Applebloom asked her magical friends, who had been quiet enough that Applebloom and Scootaloo had nearly forgotten about her.

"Uuhh. No, thanks. I think I'll just walk." She didn't want to go for two reasons one; she really wanted to learn something about how to teleport. And two; she really didn't feel ready enough to run that fast again, especially since it's a long way to Fluttershy's from Twilight's.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, but no thanks."

"Okay, it's your choice."

"Ready to lose Applebloom?" Scootaloo said to her Earth pony friend after they set up.

"In your dreams, Scootaloo!" Applebloom tossed a side glance at her Pegasus friend on her right who returned it with a grin.

"THREE! TWOONEGO!" Scootaloo rushed the last few numbers and took off before Applebloom even knew what hit her, when she found out a puff of smoke blew out from her nose and yelled after the running Pegasus.

"THAT'S STILL CHEATIN' YA BIG FEATHERBRAIN!"

"HEY, YOU DIDN'T SAY HOW FAST I COULD SAY IT. YA GOTTA BE MORE SPECIFIC NEXT TIME, APPLEBLOOM!" Scootaloo half-laughed, half-shouted behind her to Applebloom.

Twilight watched with a chuckle as she saw the two fillies run towards Fluttershy's while arguing at the same time. "Ahh, they're so much like their sisters." She saw that Sweetie Belle was still beside her and they were in the same spot. So Twilight nudged Sweetie fporward a little bit to tell that they were going now. Sweetie nodded as if saying "okay", and they started walking together to Fluttershy's cottage.

It was about 4:00 p.m. At least that was what Twilight determined, she measured how long shadows were, and judged the position of the Sun in the sky, it was probably 4:00 p.m. So that meant the walk to Fluttershy's cottage was already 10 minutes long, which was strange, considering how she's been over to her shy friend's house before, and it only took about 4-5 minutes long, tops. It's probably just because it's a nice, quiet day today. And the only reasons I go over to her house is for emergencies, help, or just because I freak out over 'no big deals'. Hmm. I should visit her more often on peaceful days, when no-one is trying to destroy or take over Equestria.

I wonder what's on Sweetie Belle's mind, she's been awfully quiet

"So Sweetie Belle. Tell me, what's on your mind? You look like you want to ask me something. It was true, Sweetie Belle kept opening and closing her mouth as if trying to say something, but rethinking it and starting over. It liked like the words couldn't exit her mouth, like they got stuck on her tongue.

Sweetie Belle once again open and closed her mouth, but this time shook her head and it looked like she was about to speak.

"Well. You said that you were gonna tell me some pointers on how to teleport."

"How to get ready to teleport."

"Right. How to get ready. So?" Sweetie looked up with a hopeful smile and big puppy-dog eyes.

"Of course Sweetie Belle. You're not only my student, but you are my friend, and I don't let my friends down." She gave the little filly a genuine and heartwarming smile.

"Cool! Thanks Twilight! So what do I do first? Do I think of a magic word and force all the energy into my horn, or do I have to tilt my horn a little a give my head a little shake, or-?!"

"Woah! Sweetie Belle calm down, calm down. First, I'm going to tell you how to get ready to teleport, even if you do know all the basics and whatnots, you don't have enough power at your age. So, just be patient, okay? I doubt it won't come naturally to you, you just have to wait. Remember this, "Good things come to those who wait. If I recall, I remember Applebloom once saying that to you, and Scootaloo, and almost everypony else in town.""

Sweetie thought this over in her head a couple of times. Hmm. "Good things come to those who wait?" It sounded hard to wrap her head around, but broken up it becomes a phrase that's particularly simple. "K. I can be patient, Twilight. What's first?"

"Twilight giggled at the filly's enthusiasm. "Okay, Sweetie Belle. The first step for any step is relax; breath in and out, deep, even breaths."

"Right. Gotcha, deep, even, in, out."

"Then, you should picture in your mind where you want to go. Imagine the breeze, or warmth, the aroma, every little detail you can about it, to the best of your ability."

"This sounds peaceful, relaxing, and educational."

"That it is Sweetie Belle, that it is."

"Is that all it takes to get ready to teleport?" Sounds way to way to me. I thought it'll be more complicated than that.

"No, no. It's more complicated than that, Sweetie Belle. You didn't think it would be that easy, now did you?"I am on a roll today, what is that, like the third, second time? I should become a psychiatrist, or is it psychic?

"Of course not."

"Then, the next step is-" Twilight cut herself off as she looked ahead. ", oh! We're here, and it only took about 15 minutes. Still a bit long, but it is an unusually peaceful and quiet day today."

Sweetie mumbled to herself, thinking. "So that mean something's bound to go wrong today, and I really hope I'm wrong."

Fluttershy's cottage came closer in view, and they could already hear the song birds singing their melodious tunes. It twas a very low and quiet tune, but that would be expected considering that it was nearly time for sunset, and most of the animals would be peacefully resting with their families in their respective homes. Closer they came, and saw that there were, actually no animals in front of the animal caretaker's home despite the chirping of birds. Something strange was going on.

"Hmm. Sweetie Belle, get behind me, something is not right." Sweetie Belle immediately did what was told with no hesitation whatsoever, although she was a tiny bit worried.

As Twilight, with Sweetie behind, ventured further to the cottage, they could both hear laughing, like little fillies' laughter, and two other familiar voices as well. Twilight went first, walked past the little bridge connecting Fluttershy's house to the road back into Ponyville, and shielded Sweetie from anything that might try to hurt or scare them. She slowly paced herself to the door and was about to knock on the door. She whispered in a hushed voice to the filly behind her.

"Sweetie Belle I need you to go lean against the wall, so that if somepony bad opens the door you won't get seen nor hurt by the door." Sweetie obliged and leaned against the hard cottage's outer wall. Twilight slowly raised her hoof and knocked on the wooden door of the cottage three loud times, so any and everypony could hear somepony else is at the door. She heard some shuffling from inside and heard a voice, she listened closer and made out an unmistakable tone of voice. She visibly relaxed, sighing to herself. "You can come out, Sweetie Belle. It was just me overreacting again, sorry." Sweetie came out from her "hiding spot" and just smiled at Twilight.

"It's okay, Twilight. You were just trying to protect me, that's all." Twilight smiled a smile similar to Sweetie's, before looking up from Sweetie and hearing fluttering of wings approach the door.

Muffled words were coming from inside the cottage behind the door. They were not that difficult to make out, "I shall get the door ladies, so relax and sit back. Keep having fun, I love fuuuunnn!" The cottage door swung open and who other than Discord, popped his head out, but with his paw holding it. "Oh! Why hellooo there, Princess Twilight, and, uh, the, last Crusader I see, hmmm? Well do come in, I'm not a monster." Discord threw his head into the air which exploded into little Discords that turned into rainwater. When Twilight and Sweetie Belle looked back to the draconeques, his head was in fact, intact. And he had a bowtie and top hat on while leaning on a cane. "Coming or not? You're Crusader friends won't be happy if I tell them you went home. And Fluttershy won't be able to use those books she oh so needed, sooooo?"

Twilight just rolled her eyes, while Sweetie Belle shook her head, "yes", a couple of times. "C'mon. Twilight let's go in, it's only Fluttershy's house."

Twilight "hmphed" and walked past Discord with Sweetie in stow. Discord just smiled happily, ignoring Twilight's reaction to his presence, then ever so swiftly and gently, before Sweetie was able to walk past him, he bent down and handed her a giant rainbow lollipop.

Sweetie was skeptical at first, but after she thoroughly inspected the unusually large lollipop she grabbed it with her magic in a light green aura, thanked him graciously, then skipped merrily away to her awaiting friends.

But what she didn't see was a draconeques trying to stifle sinister giggles.

Sweetie Belle took the large lollipop, she hopped over to her two friends who were sitting on Fluttershy's couch, drinking apple juice, while Twilight and Fluttershy talked to one another, on the other side of the room. Discord just, disappeared somewhere in the kitchen, something purple and liquid like Kelly spewing from the kitchen for every 2 minutes.

"Hey, girls! Sorry we took so long, Twilight was just telling some things on how to get ready to teleport!" She plopped herself down next to her friends, licking her comically large lollipop, which got her some strange looks.

"Um, that's great, Sweetie Belle. We don't mind that you guys took so long. But, uh, where'd you get the huge pop?" Scootaloo paused her slurping and looked at Sweetie Belle while speaking. Applebloom continued to suck her juice box dry, and just shaking her head to reasonable points.

"Oh, this? Discord gave this to me. I think it was pretty nice of him." Sweetie licked the lollipop some more, but stopped when she opened her eyes to see her friends giving her incredulous looks of disbelief.

Scootaloo was the first to come out of her stupor and simply replied. "YOU TOOK CANDY FROM DISORD!?"

Applebloom caught up as well and softly put. "Ah'm sorry, but, WHAT THE HAY IS WRONG WITH YA, SWEETIE BELLE!? YA DON'T JUST TAKE CANDY FROM THE GOD OF CHAOS, HE COULD'VE BRAINWASHED YA WIT' 'DAT, AH MEAN-*Sigh*, sorry, Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle looked as though she was about to burst into tears any second.

Scootaloo, while not really the sympathetic one of the group, crawled over to Sweetie Belle and gave her a comforting past on the back, and a sweet smile. "We're sorry, Sweetie Belle. But what we're trying to say is that while Discord isn't the bad guy anymore, he's not necessarily the most trustworthy pony you could ever meet or have as a friend. You understand what we were trying to do, now, right? We were just lookin' out for our friend, that's all. Can you forgive us?"

"*Sniff, sniff*. It's okay, I forgive you, both. I guess I thought it was kind of strange for him to just hand me a lollipop out of nowhere, but then I thought he just wanted to do something generous for a friend." Sweetie looked at the chromatic lollipop and shrugged before throwing it into a nearby trashcan. "Oh, well. It was really good to, but I suppose I shouldn't take chances when it comes to Discord."

"Aww, cheer up, Sweetie. Hey, I know why don't you tell us some of the hints Twilight told to you about how to teleport?" Scootaloo jumped up from Sweetie Belle's side, fluttering wings with excitement.

"But I don't think I could tell them easy enough for you girls to understand." Sweetie simply replied, and wanted to tell them somehow, but thought it was too hard for non-unicorns to understand.

"Well, duh. You don't have to tell us, you can just show us. It's gonna be so more awesomer to see you teleport for the first time, maybe you can be able to teleport us! So...Cool." Scootaloo emphasized her explanation with sound effects, hoof gestures, and finally falling flat on her back on the couch.

"Hmm, I guess that could work, and while I'm do the steps I can be explaining what I'm doing while doing it, brilliant!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo high-hoofed each other and giggled.

"Now wait a darn minute. How're we gonna pull this off, in Fluttershy's cottage, wit' all th' grown-ups around?" Applebloom, who had been quiet for almost the entire time, questioned in a hushed voice.

They all thought about it for a while, forming and discarding ideas after ideas. All of a sudden Scootaloo brightened up and Applebloom and Sweetie Belle could've swore they saw a light bulb light up from nowhere. Then they all looked up confused and saw Discord in an electrician uniform with a wrench, screwing in the light bulb in an imaginary socket. "Just inspiring a little mischi-I mean inspiration!" Ha! Saved it!

That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Is what the Cutie Mark Crusaders all thought at the same time. Scootaloo coughed to bring the attention back to her idea. "Sooooooo. I think we should just be all casual like, you know acting like it's nothing, and just plain out ask Twilight and Fluttershy if we can go in her backyard to "play", she made quotation marks in the air with her hooves to emphasize her true plan, "and then you can show how you can teleport, it's foal-proof!"

"Yeah. I guess it could work, but aren't Miss Twilight and Fluttershy gonna be checkin' in on us ta make sure we're okay?" Applebloom threw back another flaw I'm the plans.

"Ugghh! Ever the pessimist, aren't you Applebloom? Well, now I have that question on my mind, but I have no answer to it!" Scootaloo huffed and crossed her forehooves, while pouting all the same.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, I know, I know! How about instead of taking both of you, I could take one of you from one side to the other. That way it'll look like two of us were running around or something!" She clapped get hooves together in excitement.

"Yeah! Great idea, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo playfully punched Sweetie Belle in the arm, emitting a giggle from her, apparently she was ticklish in her arm.

"But, what if somethin' goes wrong wit' th' tele-portation?" Applebloom, honestly, was terrified of even the thought of teleportation, she knew Sweetie Belle was good at magic, but she didn't want anything bad to happen to her or to any of them.

"Oh my gosh, Applebloom! You're making this so much more complicated than it's supposed to be!" Scootaloo groaned in annoyance and fatigue.

"Oh, it's okay, Scoots. I can do some warm-ups first if you'd like Applebloom, that way I can be used to it and be totally ready for you girls." Sweetie finished with a smile which showed off her pearly-whites.

"You good, now?" Scootaloo crossed her forelegs and sat back.

Appleboom tried to think of any other bad outcomes or flaws in their plan, but she could not find our think of anything else. "Eyup."

"Okay, alright! Let's go ask Twilight and Fluttershy!" Scoots jumped up and landed on all fours, looking like she's about to race.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TELEPO-. Uh, we mean, Cutie Mark Crusaders Teleporters! Yay!" They didn't want to give away they're plan they worked so hard on to put together.

Twilight walked past Discord with her nose held high. She went to go find Fluttershy, which wasn't hard, considering Fluttershy had to watch the fillies, she would probably be in the kitchen making snacks or on the couch. Well, the couch was filled with fillies, so the kitchen was the last option.

When she entered the kitchen she thought a purple tornado exploded in there. Purple gunk on the ceiling to the walls, floor, and even in some cabinets. Discord was standing on the ceiling swishing a mop back and forth with a pout. "What happened in here?"

"Discord tried to copy Pinkie Pie's cupcake recipe, and it turns out that she is the only pony who's capable of making them and handling them." Fluttershy explained, while walking back from her closet with wet rags and paper towels.

"Oohh. Do you need any help? I don't have that much on my schedule tonight." Twilight stepped back as a huge glob of purple slowly tried to plop onto her head.

"Oh, um, you could if you'd want to, but I told Discord what could happen if he tried to do this, he didn't listen, though. I also told him that if he made a big mess, then he has to clean up by himself without magic. I'm just giving him some supplies to help." Fluttershy put the rags and paper towels on a counter and gave Discord a slight glare, which made him clean slightly faster.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why is Discord here anyway?" Twilight looked up to see Discord in front of her, upside-down, smirking.

"Weeellll, if you must know...

_(Flashback)_

"DISCOOORD!" A voice rang out in Canterlot Castle, and it didn't sound happy.

Said draconeques fluttered out of nowhere and towards the Princesses' throne room, with a sly smile. He entered and was greeted a torrent of bananas and an angry pair of princesses, well, one princess and one prince.

"Ahh, do you like my gifts Princesses, I mean, Princess and Prince?" Discord mockingly bowed to the rulers of Equestria.

"Gifts? Theses are not gifts, they are more like, what is that word, ah, yes, the foalish pranks." A deep voice that came from the Lunar Princess, turned Prince, frowned at Discord.

"Discord, whatever influenced yourself to give us these, "gifts" ?" The Sun Princess was trying her best to keep herself from turning Discord back into a rock, and sending him to the moon all the same.

"Well, you see Princess, you said that while you love eating apples, you'd want to eat something different for a change. So, I thought to myself "hmm, Ishould do something nice for my dear old friend", and what fruit is better than bananas!" He smiled widely that his face stretched out and became frozen.

A deeper voice was heard again, more questioning though. "And led you to think I wanted this gift?"

"Now that, is a hilarious story, but long enough that I feel like I don't want to tell it. Sooo, long story short. Luna came into the castle one day complaining about how hard it was to be a mare and such, so I proffered to see what I can do, I think she had a little too much to drink that day, I think. I don't know, it was kind of hazy." Discord made a giant banana pop-up and had lain back with giant sunglasses.

"Discord?" Celestia asked.

"E-yeeeeeeeeeesss?"

"Change my, "brother", back into my sister, NOW!" Celestia looked how Twilight was when she was trying to figure out Pinkie Sense, on fire.

"Oh, alright." He snapped his fingers and there were no bananas to be found, nor gender-swapped princesses making googly-eyes at almost every single mare that passes by. "You're no fun you know."

"We all have different meanings of fun, Discord. You're fun to us, is almost the same if you were to tell Pinkie Pie to have fun on her family's rock farm. I don't think she'll have much fun. Do you understand?" Celestia looked at him with a glare-like smile.

"Yes, I do know, Princesses." Discord looked down in shame, then looked up with a giant smile. "You want to go to a rock farm to have fun your own kind of fun. Ohh, hangin' out with my two friends, yay!" He shot up into the air and confetti popped out from his ears, Pinkie would be so proud of him.

"Uh, you see. Um. How to put this." The Sun Princess thought, looking for the right words.

"We do not want to hang out with you." Luna had enough of this "being the nice pony" and just plain out told the truth.

"Luna!" Celestia scolded her rude sister.

"What? You know you were thinking the same thing." Luna threw back at her older sister.

"Why are you so crummy?"

"Excuse meee, but I'm the one who got turned into a colt!"

"You're right, I'm very sorry, sorry you couldn't keep your eyes off of my assistant!"

"You know I had different needs, I was a different gender, for crying out loud!"

"Wait a minute. We never fight, let alone jokingly-fight."

They both turned their attention to the only God of Chaos in the room who was playing with dolls. One doll was a Lunar Princess doll, and the other was a Sun Princess doll, who looked as though they were arguing. The real Princesses' shouted at the draconeques loud enough he fumbled with the toys and lost his grip as they turned into blue and white dust. "DISCORD!"

"Ha ha. Yes, well. It was quite rude for you both to talk behind my back when my back wasn't even turned." He hopped up and spun only his body around while his head and neck stood in place. "Go on."

"Discord?" Celestia had to break it to him gently.

"Hmm?"

"Get Out."

-(Flashback Over)-

"and since I didn't have any other place to hang out, or anypony else, I decided to spend this time with my most dearest, sweetest, nicest, first, and oldest friend."

"Mmhmm. Remind me to never think aloud when you're around, Discord." Twilight really didn't want what she thought to be taken another way and thrown right at her.

Fluttershy, although remaining quiet for almost the entire time, nodded her head to reasonable explanations and silly antics. "Well, while Discord's story might be right, and he complimented me so heavily." Discord looked to Fluttershy with a broad smile, while Fluttershy smirked. "You still have to clean up the mess you made," Discord grumbled something under his breath unintelligible and made soap come from his giant tooth and sponges out of his ears. "And remember, Discord, no magic." He grumbled even crankier, made the magic soap and sponges disappear, grabbed some regular mop and regular soap, and continued with arduous task of, cleaning.

"Right, so-oh! I almost forgot here are the books you checked out, Fluttershy." Twilight levitated the bookfilled saddlebags off of her back and over to the yellow Pegasus.

"Oh! Thank you so much, Twilight. I would've picked them up, but I've had my hooves full lately. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble." She nudged open one of the flaps on the saddlebags with her front hoof to reveal a book about fruits, and what animals should and should not eat.

"It was nothing, Fluttershy. It's just that maybe somepony else might've want some of those books you have and I couldn't hold on to them for long." She felt a tingling sensation in her nose.

"I didn't know I might've prevented some ponies from taking out books. Sorry." Fluttershy pawed the ground slowly and softly.

Now there was a rather bothersome itch that formed in her nose. "Really, Fluttershy. You don't have to be sorry. That's how a library works. Somepony checks out a book that somepony else might want for a short period of time to read and then-then-and then re-retu-ret-aaaaaaaaCHOOOOOOOOOOO!" She sneezed so hard she flew into one of the kitchen walls, then slid down the wall and sat on her hind legs.

"Oh my!" Fluttershy flitted over to the collapsed Twilight and bent down to help her up. She stopped short when she heard giggling behind her and turned around to find Discord floating below the roof right above from where Twilight was just standing holding a pepper up to a cheese grater. "Discord! What were you thinking?! Twilight could've gotten seriously hurt from that ridiculous prank!" She scolded him hardcore, getting up in his face and turning her arms around in anger, in other words, Fluttershy. Was. Pissed.

Discord lowered himself down, with Fluttershy staring him down and not breaking eye-contact at all. He twirled about Fluttershy, curling his tail around her face and tickling her nose with the tip of his dragon tail. "Oh, dear Fluttershy. I expected you out of everypony in Ponyville to know that if an alicorn manages to somehow get harmed, their only going to obtain some cuts and bruises."

Fluttershy snorted a puff of smoke from her nostrils and frowned. "It does not matter. I know you're the God of Chaos and everything, but your not a little foal who gets his laughs from endangering ponies for some stupid, little pranks! Because I know you're better than that, Discord. You are not that monster I knew who got out from his stone prison!"

As soon as Discord heard the word, 'monster', he immediately deflated. His ears pinned against the back of his head, his eyes started to water, and he collasped on to his knees, trying his best to wipe his tears away with his mismatched hands. "*Sniff, Sniff*. I-I, I, maybe you're right or maybe you're wrong, I just don't know anymore. I just wanted to have fun. All I ever want to do is have fun, no-pony ever wants to have fun with me because as soon as they see me, that's all they ever see a-a monster. Nothing more than a monster. And maybe, I'm starting to believe that I am, a monster."

Fluttershy couldn't believe what she just did. She just hurt a creatures' feelings in blind anger. Sure Twilight didn't get exactly hurt, but she could've, Fluttershy had no right to harm Discord's feelings. "Oh my. I'm sorry, Discord. I-I, You're not a monster, and you try so hard to show ponies you're not. I shouldn't have called you a monster, when you're nowhere near that."

Discord sniffled one more time before looking up at Fluttershy, looking at her straight in the eye and smiled. "Thank you, Fluttershy. I know you probably didn't mean those horrid insults. But, can I get a hug?"

"Sure, Discord. Only if it'll make you feel better." Fluttershy came to the accidentally-broken down Discord and wrapped her arms around his neck while he hugged back. Then, they released each other.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I needed that. You know, you're a great friend."

"Oh, well, thank you, Discord." Fluttershy blushed and smiled. "You're a great friend, too."

"You're a little charmer, aren't you?"

"Hehehe. Hey, Discord, guess what?"

"What?"

"You still get a timeout for endangering Twilight."

Discord softly growled, but made his way to the closest corner of the room and the window on the wall. "Wraggle, fraggle, shnaggle!" He whispered quiet things about a certain pony and decided to keep it to himself.

Fluttershy smirked to herself, turned around, then remembered that Twilight still might need help getting up. She looked in the direction Twilight in flew in and saw that she was actually quite alright. It looked like she watched the FlutterCord argument and sentimental, and helped herself to a cookie, which she was now nom-nomming on. "Are you okay, Twilight. That was a nasty hit and fall."

Twilight's ears perked upwards that telled that she just noticed her friend. "Hmm? Oh, wha-? Oh, no, I'm fine. But, I, uh, I landed on my wing and sprained it." She moved her damaged wing in front of Fluttershy's face so she can get a good look at it.

"Oh, my! Let me get my First Aid Kit, don't move it anymore, okay?"

"It's just a sprained wing, there's nothing wrong with that. You just have to sleep it off."

"Oh, no no no no no. You see if a Pegasus hurts his or her wings and they don't treat it immediately, they can possibly permanently damage it and won't be able to fly or anything else that has to do with our wings."

"Oh, I didn't think it was that serious." Twilight blushed from embarrassment and pawed at the ground.

Fluttershy then flew as fast as she could to her nearest First Aid Kit which was in the cabinet under her kitchen sink. She pulled out a slightly larger than average Firsr Aid Kit, flipped open the top and brought out some gauze and some Duck Tape.

"Duck Tape?" Twilight questionably asked.

"It's to make a temporary splint. Now, gently give me your wing." Twilight gave Fluttershy her wing, which took hold of softly. She took the Duck Tape and folded it up so it made a miniature board and did the same to make another splint. She put the homemade splints on both sides of Twilight's injured wing then wrapped gauze around to hold it straight up and in place. Twilight made a faint hissing sound when Fluttershy straightened her wing out and put pressure on it. "Oh, my! I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no. Just a little uncomfortable. Never really sprained a wing. Actually, I never really had wings to sprain with before, actually." Twilight inspected her patched up wing, seeing the feathers pushed together from the splints and gauze. She flapped it once and felt a sharp pain shoot through the base and side of her wing, the sting showed that it wasn't broken, but that it was indeed, sprained.

Little hooves tapped against the hardwood floor in the living room, getting louder, which indicated that they were coming closer. "Oh, okay. I just didn't want to damage your wing anymore than it is." The padding on the floor was even louder than before.

"Well, thank you, Nurse Fluttershy." Fluttershy blushed deep red at false title.

"Uh, w-well, I-I, -." She was cut off by three shouting fillies who scrambles to get in the kitchen before the other.

"TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT! FLUTTERSHY, FLUTTERSHY!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders yelled at the top of their little lungs.

Twilight responded first, while Fluttershy curled up with her eyes behind her hooves. "Um, yes, girls?"

"U-uh. Yes?" Fluttershy hesitated to ask.

Scootaloo responded first. "Weeeeeell. Can we-?"

Then Applebloom. "Play outside-?"

Finally Sweetie Belle. "For a bit?" The three fillies looked at the fully-grown mares with face-splitting grins.

"Of course, girls." Twilight said it like it was the most easiest question ever asked in Equestria.

"YAY!" The Crusaders jumped into the air and high-hooved each other, then slowly floated back down until they reached the ground, and ran towards the backdoor to Fluttershy's backyard.

"Just becareful, girls. And don't get to close to the chicken coop again! Elizabeak is still traumatized from that Cockatrice encounter." Fluttershy tried yelling to the Crusaders, but, alas, they were already out the door, you could even see clouds shaped like their little bodies that slowly faded away.

Twilight thought to herself for a moment, closing her eyes in concentration. "I feel like they're planning something. Yet, I can't tell if it's truly dishonest. Oh well. It's probably not that important. But, I think we should keep an extra close eye on them though, just in case, Fluttershy." Said Pegasus nodded in agreement with her Alicorn friend.

"Oh. You are quite funny, you are, Princess, really." Discord commented to the librarian's brush-off. He was still sitting in the corner, however. But his face was on the back of his head while his whole was opposite of his face.

"What do you mean by that, Discord?" Twilight asked skeptically and raised a brow in curiosity, but, skepticism was the emotion on her face.

"Oh, nothing much. Just know that everything is going to change, Twilight Sparkle. And I do not think you're 'oh so powerful' skills and magic will help you when things take a turn for the worse." Discord phrased it not so much as a threat, but as a warning. And the God of Chaos, the most happiest being in Equstria, next to Pinkie Pie of course, somehow made Twilight and Fluttershy shiver with fear of what he meant.

"I hate to ask this, but, w-what do you mean by that?" Twilight was strangely hesitant to ask the question, but was more scared of the answer.

"You'll find out soon enough. But, I'll tell you one thing, this will probably be your biggest and most dangerous crusade you've had in a while." He idly stroked his beard with his tooth while cleaning his ears out with his elbows.

She pondered his response for a bit, something sounded...off. "-probably be your biggest most dangerous crusade?" Crusade. Crusade, crusade, crusade. It's very familiar, maybe it's..wait a minute. "*Gasp* The Cutie Mark Crusaders, crusade! The Crusaders are in trouble! Come on, Fluttershy, we have to stop them from doing...whatever it is they're trying and/or doing!" Twilight didn't wait till Fluttershy complied, she levitated her friend and threw her on her back. Then, she ran outside as fast as she could with her shocked and flushed friend to see a disaster about to happen. "Wait! NO, DON'T!" She was too late, however. There was a huge, bright flash, then there was nothing but silence, scary silence.

A few moments later, Fluttershy and Twilight heard frightened screams from the Everfree Forest.

"We have to find them, it's already dark. We don't have much time." She looked up at the bright moon which provided light to see, but clouds were slowly moving towards it to block possibly their only way to finding the three little frightened fillies.


	2. Twilight Time Gone Terribly Wrong: 2

_30 Minutes Before_

"YAY!" The Crusaders jumped into the air and high-hooved each other, then slowly floated back down until they reached the ground, and ran towards the

backdoor to Fluttershy's backyard.

"Aw, yeah! It worked!" Scootaloo flitted her wings from excitement as soon as the backyard door closed and they were alone outside. "Now you can show us how you teleport, Sweetie Belle!"

"Ah, don't know if this was a good idea after all. Ah mean, Applejack said that telling a lie is no better than not telling anything. Especially after the Flim-Flam tonic incident, I think that this is probably pretty tha' same thing." Applebloom said with curiosity and a hint of guilt deep in her voice.

"Nah, probably not the same. But, if your chicken, Applebloom, then you can just sit out and watch us, if you want that is." Scootaloo had a fake uninterested expression and looked at her hoof casually.

"Why you-! Ah'm not a chicken you chicken! C'mon, Sweetie Belle lets get to it!" Applebloom glared at her Pegasus friend then walked past her to her Unincorn friend.

"Uh, ok. Let's see, now. Imagine where you are. Fluttershy's backyard, right next to the Everfree Forest. It's almost dark, cool breeze, aaaand focus. Okay! Let's teleport!" Sweetie recited the steps Twilight told her, but she felt like she forgot one thing Twilight warned her about.

"Hurry up a bit, Sweeties. I think I hear Twilight and 'dem 'bout ta come out here."

"Okay, okay. I just feel weird, like a tingly sensation in my horn." Sweetie lightly tapped the magical cone growing out of her forehead.

"Are you feeling ill. Are you getting sick, we don't have to do the teleporting if you're getting a cold or something. We could forget about the whole thing if you want." Scootaloo asked with over concern, which was very out of character for her.

"Uh, no. Thanks, but that's not necessary. I just feel like I have a lot of pent up energy. I'm sure I'll be fine, though." Sweetie waved it off with her hoof, but Scootaloo looked unusually worried. "Geez, Scootaloo. Since when did you become so overprotective?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm the same as ever!" Scootaloo puffed out her chest and raised her head high with closed eyes.

"Noo, you're being kind of sensitive and overly caring, Scoots. It's like you're being th' opposite of ya normal personality. Ya sure ya are feeling alright?" Applebloom asked skeptically, yet she said it in a very cocky way.

"What!? No! I'm not, not...acting, acting..ugh, my head hurts." Scootaloo sat down on her haunches and rubbed her temples with her front hooves.

"Aww, calm down, ya big baby. Now let's git this here teleportation done and over with." Applebloom walked towards Scootaloo, grabbed her tail in her mouth, then pulled her to the now concentrating Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle looked up from her hooves and out of her reverie when she heard a thud in front of her. What she saw was a curled up Scootaloo with her hooves covering her face and an annoyed looking Applebloom who had a grimace-like-frown upon her face. "Uuhh...are you girls okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can't say the same for Miss Scaredy-Cat, here." Applebloom looked down at the shivering Pegasus.

"I'm NOT a scaredy-cat! And, um, y-yes, I-I guess I'm alright. T-thank you for asking, Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo sat up a little leaning on her front hooves to support herself. "C-can we s-start now?"

Sweetie looked at both of them incredulously before she shook her head to herself. "Uh, sure. Just, um, I need to get grounded first," She sat down firmly and gripped the ground tightly. ", next I have to look at my surroundings and know where I started." Sweetie looked around seeing the back of Fluttershy's cottage and the entrance to the Everfree Forest, where they first entered to catch Elizabeak, I wonder if she still remembers us from last time. We should go say 'Hi' to her. Maybe after Applebloom and Scootaloo stop acting so weird. "Okay, we're in the back of Fluttershy's cottage and in front of the Everfree Forest. Lastly, know where you're going to teleport." Now, where should I teleport? Ooh! Maybe, in front of Fluttershy's house. Yeah, and then I could teleport back and, just to spook them, maybe a few feet away from the Everfree? Yes, perfect! "Uh, check!"

"Now?" Applebloom looked absolutely aggravated by how long this was taking.

"Yeah, yeah. Just relax. Okay, now to be able to teleport with a beginner Unicorn you have to be in contact. So, each of you please give me one of your hooves." Sweetie took Applebloom and Scootaloo's held out hooves and clasped her hooves around them. Sweetie scrunched her eyes together and concentrated hard, so hard to the point she started sweating.

She felt the tingling sensation spouting from her horn again. That's weird. My horn doesn't feel like this when I'm levitating something, and Twilighg definitely didn't tell me about any symptoms about Unicorn beginners who first use teleportation. I'm probably just coming down with something, I'll sleep it off later. Sweetie cracked her eyes open to small slits and saw that it wad dark out and the full moon was flashingexponentially bright tonight, she saw that she had begun the teleportation in front of the Everfree Forest. How did we turn to the Everfree? That forest is so weird, and creepy. Mostly both. Wait, what was the place I was supposed to be teleporting to? The-the, um..I-I forgot. Wow, the Everfree Forest is so beautiful under the bright light of the full moon. Wait a minute, why can't I take my mind off of the Forest. Sweetie scrunched her eyes together again, but opened them when she heard shouting from behind her.

"Wait! NO, DON'T!"

The voice sounded like Twilight's, but it sounded fuzzy and distant. Sweetie Belle felt a warmth spread throughout her entire body. She saw bright green light glow all around her. She felt like she saw being pulled in all directions, spinning around, she also was getting a terrible headache from it. It was all beautiful, nonetheless, and as soon as the light and spinning, the pulling and the warmth occurred, vanished just as quickly as they had come.

Now, all Sweetie BeBelle saw was near-darkness, and felt a cold breeze flow through her mane. She looked to her side to see Applebloom looking around kind of confused, she looked prepared to fight off anything that tried to attack them. Sweetie looked to her other side to find a scared-out-of-her-wits Scootaloo curled up in a little ball, her tiny wings extending from her back and twitching every now-and-then, with her hooves wrapped over her head and eyes scrunched shut. "W-where are we? Applebloom? Scootaloo? Any idea?"

Applebloom snorted, then stomped a hoof in the ground and turned towards Sweetie Belle with a more gentler expression. "Hmm, I'd say we're right smack dab in the middle of the Everfree Forest."

"How could you guess?" Sweetie tilted her head to the side a little.

"You said that you have to concentrate on a specific place in order to teleport d'ere, right?" Applebloom waited until she received a small nod, then continued. "Well, when you started the teleportation you were taking a long time to focus, so I looked up and saw you were squintin' at the Forest, don't know how we turned to it, d'ough. Now, I know you probably didn't mean for d'is ta 'appen, I saw ya, it looked like you were tinking mighty hard 'bout something, but d'at don't madder now."

"Yeah, uh, yeah, we should be thinking on how to get back. Sorry for this happening, girls. I'll take the blame when we get back." Sweetie dropped her head and poked small holes in the ground with her front hoof, until she felt a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Sweetie Belle turned around to see Scootaloo smiling encouragingly down at her, then she hugged Sweetie.

"No. It's not your fault. It's mine, Sweetie Belle. And, partially Applebloom's."

" 'Ey!"

"Hehmhm. Relax, Applebloom. Anyway, I shouldn't have influenced you to do something you clearly weren't trained enough in. So, don't be sorry, when I should be apologizing, I'm sorry." Scootaloo tightened her embrace, then let go.

"Thank you, Scootaloo, but, it's all our faults, not just yours." Sweetie smiled back at Scootaloo and took a step a back when she heard Applebloom 'shhh' them. "What's wrong?"

"You hear 'dat?" Applebloom said it hushed, like she was afraid of what she heard.

"W-what?" Scootaloo was sounding scared again.

"Grrrrrrr. Rrrrrrrr

It was a terrifying growling, it bore deep into their ears, letting the Crusaders know that this was an animal, no, not only an animal, a predator.

Applebloom was the first to figure out that they should stand their ground instead of standing there like bait for whatever this thing is. "Stand completely still, Do. Not. Move. It's okay. Don't panic, it's probably just a Tasmanian devil or something." She said strained, through her frozen lips.

Another loud, menacing growl resounded throughout the Forest, closer, hungrier.

Suddenly, a pair of piercing, glowing, bright yellow eyes appeared from the bushes before the Crusaders. And connected to those intense eyes was a face, with a wooden snout with huge, intimidating, sharp teeth with the largest canines, too. A snarl came from the feral beast and then a horrifying roar. The Cutie Mark Crusaders did the only thing they could do in a situation like theirs. They panicked.

"AAAAaaaaahhhhHHH!"


	3. Change is Good Right?

"AAAAaaaaahhhhHHH!" the Crusaders grabbed onto each other for dear life as the huge, heaving timberwolf leaped out from some shrubs in the distance, growling and snarling in the light of the moon.

"Grrr Ooo Arr! Aaahhh Wrr Ooohhh!" the beast's head shot up towards the unusually large and glowing moon.

The Crusaders almost got whiplash to how fast they repeatedly turned their heads to each other from the wooden monstrosity. In an almost telepathic way, they silently agreed with each other on a plan. "RUN!"

And run they did, they ran together, as a group, much to Applebloom's urging. They ran as far and as fast as they possibly could from the wooden wolf.

Sweetie Belle started to think while she ran for her life from the most deadly predator in the Everfree Forest.

Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh! We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna die! Wait a minute. She stopped almost instantaneously, facehoofing her now hoof-printed forehead. "Girls, wait!" Scootaloo and Applebloom stopped and looked back at Sweetie Belle incredulously, wondering if their friend had lost her mind. "I can just teleport us home, or at least far enough away from that timberwolf!"

"You sure 'bout that, Sweetie Belle? 'Ah mean look at where teleporting got us so far." Applebloom used her hoof to scratch a sudden itch spreading to the nape of her neck, looking sheepishly away from the horned-pony.

Scootaloo shuffled on her hooves, visibly nervous and sweating with fear. "Well, I'll try anything right now. That timberwolf isn't slow, you know. "

"Alright, here goes!" Fluttershy's house, Fluttershy's house, Fluttershy's house!" a tiny, green spark lit up from Sweetie Belle's horn, then a large cloud puffed around them, encasing them for a few seconds, then poofed away.

"What 'appened?! That timberwolf could be right on our trail by now!" Applebloom was panicking now.

But, Scootaloo was even worse, she was rocking back and forth with her head in her lap, freaking out.

"It's okay! Twilight said that might happen. I just need to concentrate harder." Sweetie started speaking in a hushed tone, knowing the timberwolf couldn't be far.

"Well, ya better hurry it up, 'ah think d'uh timberwolf is right around the corner!"

"Okay, okay! Don't pressure me!" Sweetie focused harder than she'd ever focused on anything in her whole life. "Al-most ...got it!" Sweetie Belle felt the same tingling in her horn again. Why won't ..that ...go ...away?! She closed her eyes and tightened them, finally she felt the ground move beneath her, and heard flashing and a popping noise. She opened her eyes without looking at her surroundings and jumped in joy. "I did it! I did it! I did it!" As she was jumping for joy, she finally registered that she was somewhere else, but she was alone. Oh my gosh! I must've teleported Scootaloo and Applebloom to Fluttershy's house without me! Hey, maybe I teleported farther away from the timberwolf, though!

"Aaaaahhh-Wrrroooooohh!" Or maybe I teleported even closer to it!

"We have to find them, it's already dark. We don't have much time." she looked up at the bright moon which provided light to see, but the grey, slow moving clouds moving towards it, were inevitably going to block possibly their only way to finding the three little frightened fillies.

Fluttershy got off of Twilight's back clumsily and mumbled something to herself. "Oh, my! I hope they're going to be alright. The Everfree Forest is dangerous, but at night...with all those predators ...it can be ...*Gulp* ...deadly." probably not wanting to hear it from her own mouth, she whispered the last part, just enough for anypony to hear her.

"That is why we're going to save the girls before those animals get to them first." Twilight lit up her horn, using the same spell she did when Fluttershy turned into Flutterbat, a beam of light shot up, presenting her cutie mark in the night sky. "Fluttershy, before we go, I need you to, I can't believe I'm saying this, but to tell Discord to get help, and by help I mean the rest of the girls. Hurry!" Fluttershy nodded and took flight, she flew back into her house. "And bring a flashlight! And some first-aids!"

"Ugh! Where is she!" Twilight stamped her hoof on the ground in anticipation and nervousness. She looked over to the cottage to see the lights were still on. Finally, she saw Fluttershy fly out the backdoor of her house with a flashlight and three mini first-aid kits. "Finally! Come on, let's g-!" Twilight was cut off as a bright flash and popping noise sounded above her. Next thing she knew there were two objects that were on top of her back, pinning her down slightly. "Wha-huh!?" she turned her head to see a purple tail in her face. "What?! Scootaloo?!" said filly whimpered in response.

"And Applebloom!"

Twilight looked to her right, catching a glimpse of Applebloom's pink bow. "Right. Applebloom?!" A grunt was enough for a reply. "Ugh!" Twilight levitated both fillies off her back, by their tails. "Now, answer me th-wait. Where's Sweetie Belle?!" Twilight moved the floating Scootaloo and Applebloom to the side and looked down, left, right, up, forward, and backward. Sweetie Belle was no where to be found. "Scootaloo, where's Sweetie Belle?! Uh, are you okay?" Twilight looked at said pony and saw that she was weeping, no, crying. "Scootaloo? Since when do you cry about stuff like this? Come to think of it, I've never seen you cry before, I've heard you've cried before, but I've I didn't believe it."

Scootaloo sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hoof, then let it drop like the other. "I'm not crying because of that, I'm crying because you yelled at me." Twilight sighed, then she put on a apologetic smile. "I was just ...worried over where you two were, and I'm sorry I yelled, but now I'm worried about Sweetie Belle. I need to know where she is. Do you know where she is? How did you girls get here, anyway?"

"I-I, I d-don't know. Sweetie Belle said she was going to teleport all three of us out the Forest, and she did, m-minus her, though. *Sniffle, sniffle*." Scootaloo started whimpering again.

"Eerrr! Let ...go! We have to save Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom struggled and strained, trying to free herself from the Unicorn's magical grip.

Twilight switched her attention over to the squirming Earth pony and squinted her eyes in skepticism. "Save Sweetie Belle from what exactly?"

"A timberwolf! Come on! We gotta go now! Before it gets 'er!" Applebloom tried swinging her front legs to hop out of the magic, but only succeeded in swinging herself back and forth. "Can you please let go, so 'ah can save mah' friend?"

"No. You're not going to go after her, especially now that I know there's a wild timberwolf after her. Fluttershy, change of plans. Go inside, clean these two up and watch them, make sure they don't leave the cottage." Twilight sat Applebloom and Scootaloo in front of Fluttershy, who had long since stopped flying.

"Right. Come on girls , let's go inside and wash up." Fluttershy started nudging them towards the cottage's door, but Applebloom slipped passed the Pegasus darted passed the Alicorn, and started towards the Forest.

It only took about a minute for Twilight to figure out what just happened. "Ohhhh, no you don't!" Twilight caught Applebloom in her magic before she could run back into the Forest. She glided the defiant, yet loyal, filly back over to Fluttershy, who was hugging the crying Scootaloo. "Applebloom! Stay here! I'll find Sweetie Belle and bring her back. So don't worry, we'll find her." Twilight explained to Applebloom, who was put on the ground gently and dusted off, looking angry, yet sad.

"I'm not worried about you finding 'er, 'ah know you'll find 'er. I'm jus' worried about whether ya' find 'er alive." with that said, Applebloom turned tail, and walked back into the house with her head held low and her strides slow.

Fluttershy, who had watched the whole scene unfold, glared at Twilight slightly angrily, but took in a deep breath before giving her a look of agreement. "Find Sweetie Belle first, I'll talk to you about what happened now, later. Just go." Twilight Sparkle would have said something back, but a deafening scream from the Everfree Forest pierced through Scootaloo, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle's ears, before she could. "There's no time to argue! I'll be back, stay here!" that said, Twilight Sparkle shot off into the Everfree Forest, kicking up loose dirt as she went deep into the heart of the most dangerous place to be at night.

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Where am I?! Where am I?! Where am I?!" Sweetie Belle was running, no, galloping, for her life right now. She was tiring herself out fast, though. She also wasn't looking where she put her hooves as she sprinted. Her front, left hoof caught on something. It was some ancient-looking, twisting roots poking out of the ground, no doubt from an old, rotting stump long forgotten by whoever cut it down. "Oomf!" was what came from her mouth as she fell tummy first into the Everfree's black dirt and moss-covered rocks. Her front two hooves pushed downwards, sending her upper body upwards towards the night sky. Lifting her back legs to stand straight, she soon realized she couldn't. Her hind hoof was tangled in the old roots she tripped on before. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no! Not now! C'mon! Err! Ah! Won't budge!" As much as she tried to dislodge her hoof, it was like the branches grew even more taut, especially with all her struggling.

SNAP!

"*Gasp!*" Maybe if I stay really quiet, it won't know I'm here.

"*Sniff, sniff*. Grrrrrrrrrrr." the wooden wolf uttered it's low, guttural growl, making anypony who heard it know that it wasn't a warning reply.

Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet! The Everfree Forest, the darkest, scariest, coldest place in Equestria. It is also the oldest. And old places always have something broken. CRACK! Eyelids wide and adrenaline coursing through her veins, Sweetie Belle's whole body froze except her eyes which down to see the broken and squashed remains of a twig under her hoof.

"Grrraaarrrrwlll..." CRUNCH... The sound of fallen leaves being crushed by wooden paws and torn by splintering claws. The wood predator squinted his eyes. He locked his own with the eyes of his prey. He smelled fear. Just how he likes them.

Sweetie looked in horror as the beast of the forest stared her down with it's unearthly eyes. "No, no, no, no, no! Stay! Stay! Bad boy! NO! AHHHHHHHH!" The beast leaped, pouncing down on the poor unicorn. It swung down its heavy head, trying for its prey's neck, to end it quickly, but yelped as it felt itself being lifted by some unknown force. He looked around, catching sight of another potential snack. Purple fur was dark making the flesh nice and pink. The carnivore licked his lips in anticipation of his next meal.

The purple chicken leg spoke. "You stay away from her! You're not eating anypony tonight!" Twilight had the wolf caught in her magical aura.

The timber felt himself thrown into one of the many black trees in the Everfree Forest. "Whimper..." He rose from his spot at the bottom the tree. He looked down at the broken off hind leg the purple one had dislodged from his body, he waited for it slowly retract back into place. He looked for the one who had hurt him. He was mad. He saw the purple poultry getting his marshmallow out from the twine of roots. His dinner and dessert was escaping. Now, he was angry.

Twilight wasted no time. She teleported over to the horrified Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie Belle, are you alright?! Sweetie Belle?! Alright, I can see you need time to register this, so I'll help." She grabbed Sweetie in her arms, trying to pull her free from the old tree roots. "Don't worry, Sweetie Belle. Nothing will harm you while I'm here! Ommph!" She was knocked over by the wild wolf, losing her grip on Sweetie Belle. Twilight was ready to give all she got to it. However, timberwolves weren't stupid. They've dealt with ponies before. He took his hard, wooden paw and threw it down to the purple pony's forehead, just below the horn. Twilight gasped as she felt the powerful and excruciatingly painful sensation she took from the blow. She passed out from pain. The wolf was ready to eat. THUNK! He shook his head. The rock that flew into it laid by his new prey's head.

"Leave her alone, you-you-you termite head?" Sweetie Belle, now thawed out from her frozen state, stood bravely upon a boulder half in the ground that wasn't there before.

"Arrroooohhhhhh! Grrrrrrrrrooaaaarrr!" He didn't think when he ran from the purple pony to the offending one, he just knew he wasn't going home with an empty stomach.

"Uh-oh..." Sweetie turned to run. She ran as fast as she could in one direction. "I should of thought this out more!" The loose dirt being kicked up from her running hooves was causing a dust cloud to form. It was getting harder and harder to see where she was going. Am I even going straight anymore? "Ah!" Stupid rock! I'm running for my life here! She got up and wiped the dirt from her face.

Grrrrrrrrrr...

She heard the growl again. The same growl, but still threatening nonetheless. Yellow eyes revealed themselves from the thick clouds of dust. "*Gasp!*" Sweetie Belle moved as far back as she could, hoping the wolf would somehow vanish if she backed away from it. She backed up 'til she felt an object preventing her from moving backwards. "Huh?" She turned around and saw the object. Sweetie looked closer and saw a very interesting detail.

A white unicorn with a two-tone mane stood her ground on a foggy clearing in the Everfree Forest. Albeit, trying to find home and avoid any meetings with unfriendly creatures.

"HEY! TIMBERWOLF! COME AND G-GET ME, YOU OVERGROWN T-TWIG!" Or, maybe she was just trying to get herself killed.

Sweetie Belle was anxiously looking over her shoulders every now and then. She walked back and forth across a distance. Not too short to make it look like she pacing, but not too long to lose track of where she was.

Groooooooh... AROOOH! The wolf leapt out of the murky air and landed with a dull thump. His front paw came crashing down on an unsuspecting rock and smashing the used-to-be father of three into tiny, little pebbles. He wasted no time. The monster charged at his prey.

Sweetie Belle yelped, jumping up and, somehow running through the air. She ran straight, knowing when to jump and what rock to avoid, after all, she wasn't pacing around for nothing. She could come up with a decent plan if she wanted to. "*Yip!*"

The predator grinned and gave chase.

"*Huffing and puffing*." Sweetie ran harder than she ever had or ever could. Left ...right. Left, right. Jump! Right, left!" It was, like, she had memory map she drew into her mind. Hey, *huff, huff* I'm good at this! I should try out for track! And then she looked back.

"*Grunting*" The wolf was right on her tail. Literally, he was about two feet away.

Sweetie upped the speed, she was going so fast was gliding through the air was the logical reason she could up with then that could explain how she was going that fast. Faster... faster... FASTER!

The timberwolf was panting with delight, he liked fast food. They always put up a good fight before going down. One pounce, one good jump would put an end to all this nonsense. But where's the fun in that. He kept his pace, but snapped his jaws to frighten his food and get its adrenaline pumping.

Then, the prey jumped. And the wolf saw why. "*Whimper*"

Smash!

Sweetie Belle smiled as she turned around. The sight wasn't pretty, but at least it was safe, at least for her. The backside, tail, and hind legs were poking out from the hole of the rotting tree stump.

The timberwolf grunted and growled while trying to claw his way out; the soft ground crumbling under the might of his huge paws.

"Ha! That's what you get! You don't try to just eat anypony and expect to not get away with it! Take that! Or as Rarity would say, 'Hmm!'" Sweetie left to go find Twilight back in the clearing, but when she turned to leave she heard a cracking and crunching noise. She meant to turn, but the wolf was too fast.

Whoosh!

Sweetie Belle cried out in a short scene of pain. It wasn't that it hurt so bad she couldn't bear it; it was that it happened so fast, so unexpectedly, that she hadn't anticipated a swipe from the trapped wooden wolf.

It hadn't escaped. It simply loosened itself slightly, letting one of its hind legs go farther back than it thought it would. When he felt its prey's presence, he striked. Slashing her on some part of her body, he knew he would never know, but better to leave a reminder, so it would.

Sweetie Belle limped over to the right of the middle of the clearing. She strained to come close enough to Twilight. "Breathing, but totally unconscious. Better than the former not being there." She finally had lost the strength in her body to move any further and collapsed less than half a foot away from the purple Alicorn. "Come on. Just a little more... " A tiny spark emerged from her horn; using the little consciousness and energy she had left, she thought one thing, one tiny, little word. It was an unimportant word, never really used a lot, but it meant so much right now to this little filly, anyone in this situation, in fact. It was...

The Everfree Forest's only clearing was once again clear. It's only visitors in a long time disappeared with a 'Pop!'; but you never leave anywhere and not take something with you.


End file.
